Name: Pete Cannon
Nationality: British
Occupation: Producer, label founder at N4, radio presenter
Current release: Pete Cannon teams up with Mixtress for their take on The Streets's classic “Blinded by the Lights,” out via Pure Groove Limited.
Gear Recommendations: The Amiga 1200 and the ROSSUM ASSIMIL8TOR multi timbral phase modulation sampler. That thing is a god damn beast!

[Read our Mixtress interview]

If this Pete Cannon interview piqued your interest, visit him on Instagram, Facebook, twitter, and Soundcloud.



The views of society towards technology are subject to constant change. How would you describe yours?

Well, there’s a duality, part of me doesn’t care about the technology as it’s only the medium to express the idea. I can make some jungle with a pair of sticks and a tape machine if need be, maybe not even a tape machine.

Work with what you got, the best technology is an expanded horizon that can solve a problem quickly, thus pulling the trigger quicker, getting in a state of flow and finessing an idea. Find what you enjoy.

Oh yeah, Ableton is dead good.

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience - can one train/learn being an artist / producer?

My dad's a musician, he had records out in the ‘70s. I wanted to be like him as a kid.

He had a small studio which I used to mess around in when I was little. He had a small mixing desk and a couple of effects pedals for his guitar. When I was 5 I started playing the piano and at age 10 I got a dx7 synth from the local junk shop. He showed me how to record sounds on tape and how to record.

By 12 I had an amiga and a sequencer connected to that dx7, all going into his little mixing desk. At that point I knew I was going to make music my job. I went to Music college, then uni. After that I worked loads of shit jobs and pushed as hard as I could to write sync music and pop music to get me out of working.

Luckily I managed to make some tracks for some pop acts including Rizzle Kicks and did some huge sync jobs for Apple and other companies. That set me up, just the desperation to make music fuelled me to … make music.

Learn, train and enjoy.

Making music, in the beginning, is often playful and then becomes increasingly professionalised. How important is playfulness for you today and if it is important, how do, concretely, you retain it?

Music is how I express myself, how I communicate, it's my meditation and passion. How’s that not going to be fun?

I can remind myself that I’m not at the call centre selling Sky TV for some absolute wanker of a boss, that’s enough to make me go, hellz yeah, I’m going to make some music. I also get excited about synths, new plugins, new music, new forms of making music.

For sure I do write serious music too. I recently wrote a song about my mother. Nobody has heard it and nobody will, it was just for me that day. But it was still fun to use music to get those emotions out.

Which other producers were important for your development and what did you learn from them?

Bizzy B, Ron Wells, Dj Seduction, 4 hero, all Reinforced, Moving Shadow, Sub Base, Kniteforce, Photek, Photek, Photek.

I learnt that this is going to take ages back when I started with an Amiga and Octamed. The main focus was understanding the sound palette and arrangements. How and where were these sounds coming from and that’s when digging came in massively.

Now I have a bloody huge record collection as the only way to get sounds before the Internet was to sample records or those sample CDs. Digging is still fun.

How and for what reasons has your music set-up evolved over the years and what are currently some of the most important pieces of gear and software for you?

I always say this: The most important bit of gear is your head. How have you been looking after yourself? That all goes into the starting point of making music. What has inspired you, relationships, recent trips, it’s all going to funnel into the music.

Equipment wise, Amiga 1200, 4 tracks of awesome 8 bit audio that is a true hardcore sound. The Roland 330 12bit sampler is incredible, a mirage 8 bit keyboard sampler, oh and the new modular set up which consists of about 25 modules at the moment. Software, Ableton, Renoise, Octamed 4 on the Amiga and Cubase 2 on the Atari ST.

It has evolved over the 25 years but  next I want to do a project on tape, editing reel to reel on the slab.

Have there been technologies which have profoundly influenced, changed or questioned the way you make music?

I love trackers for cutting up beats. It’s what I started on with the amiga. You should never let the technology dictate an idea but trackers do push you in a certain direction for edits. Ableton is so quick and I can get ideas down straight away which helps with the state of flow.

As I say next up I want to make some techno on the modular, no editing, just conversations from the machines, a one take. Then after that a tape project.

Late producer SOPHIE said: “You have the possibility with electronic music to generate any texture, and any sound. So why would any musician want to limit themselves?” What's your take on that and the relevance of limitations in your set-up and process?

A limitation falls under possibility as much limitless falls under possibility. I love to limit myself, it makes you choose a path quicker. ‘What we using, this, why? 'Cause it’s the only thing we have.’ You have to choose to make a move, choose a piece of equipment, choose a sequencer,  choose a place to set up your studio. When I'm in a flow I want to get it done.  

At 12 years old, all I had was the amiga and the dx7, I made albums with that. Now I sit in a studio with endless bits of kit and a zillion plugins with the possibility to do anything but all I want to do is what’s in my heart and make whatever I’m feeling right then. By that, it's all a limited endless paradox.

RIP SOPHIE x

From the earliest sketches to the finished piece, what does your current production workflow/process look like?

A hip hop session looks like a piss up with James Dike in the studio till 6 in the morning. A session with Mixtress will involve sausage rolls and gabbing on for hours, a solo session will be digging and finding crafting ideas.

There's lots of sessions in all the sequencers across the amiga, atari, mac and the modular. Some will get finished, some will get released, but they all got made which is by far the most important factor.

From your experience, are there things you're doing differently than most ormany other artists when it comes to gear and production?

I try not to pay attention to what anyone else is doing, in the same way you shouldn’t care what I’m doing if you’re an artist. I’d stop reading this and go and make a tune if I was you ;)

However, the jungle scene is great at the moment. Coco Bryce, Sully, Tim, Dwarde, Phinneus 2, Harmony, T cuts, Cheetah, Janaway and more out there are smashing it.

The hardcore scene is also great. respect to all representing and putting on nights, Distant Planet, future Retro et al. But yep, when it comes to making tunes do what you enjoy and do it how you want to.

In relation to sound, one often reads words like “material”, “sculpting”, and “design”. Do you feel these terms have a relationship to your own work of and approach towards sound? Do you find using presets lazy?

I’m not a sound sculpting guy, I'm an ideas man. Riffs, melody, harmony I’m not arsed too much about super loud mixes. Sure there is a level it has to be at and I’ve written, mixed, and masterd music for so many projects from films to world wide cinema and tv adverts.

However when it comes to jungle and hardcore, the ruffness is where it's at for me. It's punk isn’t it, It's DIY and it's a true form of expression. Incredible ideas can come together in minutes or you can slog over a track for months and years. Again up to you …

Production tools can already suggest compositional ideas on their own. Which of these have proven particularly fruitful in this regard?

Use them if you want. If it helps you get to the point or express your idea quicker, do it. I don’t care too much.

The most fruitful of them all would have to be Fruity Loops I think ... sorry, sorry, ha.

To some, the advent of AI and “intelligent” composing tools offers potential for machines to contribute to the creative process. What are your hopes, fears, expectations and possible concrete plans in this regard?

AI is great, it helped us extract the vocal for The Streets track we did. Without it I wouldn't be doing this interview. As long as it doesn’t turn into that dog robot from black mirror and kills me, it's all good.

My hopes are it will open many doors in production, say like the sampler did in the early 80s. My fears are that I won't get to see how far it develops and I expect it to mix my tunes down quicker so I can make more ideas. Nice one A.I, top lad.

Also have you seen that insta page "Look I ruined it", it was worth it alone just for that.

Technology has continually taken on more steps of the compositional process and “creative” tasks. From your point of view, where does “technology” end and “creativity” begin?

If it’s not old ravers whinging about kids using CDJs instead of decks, it's Bob Dylan fans whining about him playing the electric guitar and not the acoustic, this has been going on forever. Technology, technology!

I understand this is meta but can we all stop whinging in music and try to enjoy ourselves? It’s up to you where it starts but that's down to you. Use a preset if you want, use a kordbot, use a midi helper to write harmony. I try to have a different head on when listening to music and that’s to just decide if it fits into one of the 2 genres, good music or bad music … of course only from my standpoint.

Technology doesn't start and end anywhere regarding creativity, it exists, use it how you want. A track could be a loop and a break or it could be a 50 piece orchestra. Do you like it? I'm not dismissing anybody who has worked for their craft and practiced their instrument for over 25 years who is a virtuoso, that is incredible and is dedication. Time plus effort equals value, right? At the same time I might like a trashy EDM track or maybe a Stanley Jordan track doing a solo piece playing bass, chords and lead in a one take just on a guitar that is a master class showcase of ability, there is a place for all of it.

I think it's about coming together but ultimately, create for you firstly and maybe, some other people will enjoy your music too.

If you could make a wish for the future directly to a product developer at a Hard- or Software company – what are developments in tools/instrumentsyou would like to see and hear?

Full AI headpiece that reads my mind to create music as I think it. Ableton Cyborg Push Helmet.